Green Tea has become a new age fad across the world! Indeed, it is considered trendy to consume green tea! And for good reason! After all, we have all been showered with heaps and heaps of information of the miraculous properties of green tea including; weight loss, fighting cancer and much, much more! However, with all fads comes a long string of myth’s and it becomes difficult to distinguish fact from fiction! Here is a quick brief of what’s a fact and what’s a myth when it comes to green tea!
It is a common belief that green tea and black tea are extracted from different plants. This is not true; the tea leaves for both these teas are extracted from the same plant. Reason why both green tea and black tea is different is because the leaves are processed in different ways. Green tea goes through less of processing whereas black tea leaves tend to be heavily processed.
The sudden hype about green tea has led to the belief that drinking green tea yields fast weight loss results. This is yet another green tea myth!
Don’t get us wrong. Green tea does assist in weight loss – but not on its own. With a healthy diet and exercise, green tea can help speed up the process. Simply drinking green tea isn’t going to help you shed those pounds!
…. Sometimes you just have to use your common sense. We have mentioned time and time again, that too much of anything is bad for you!
It is commonly believed that drinking hot beverages such as coffee and black tea in a large amount can be harmful; however people think this does not apply to green tea. This is yet another ridiculous green tea myth and assumption – doctors warn against consuming up to 10 cups a day.
Another green tea myth is that black tea has more caffeine that green tea. This is not true! The processing of green tea leaves and black tea leaves do not have any effects on the amount of caffeine present in either tea leaves. This means that the amount of caffeine present in both is the same!
Now that you know what’s a myth, let’s go ahead and learn the facts of green tea!
It is a common belief that green tea has anticancer properties. This is true – for all tea! However, more so with green tea as it undergoes the least amount of processing.. Green tea has high amounts of ‘Catechin’ which inhibits an enzyme that is needed for the growth of cancer cells. Hence, green tea does not allow the cancer cells to grow.
Research has revealed that green tea can help increase bone mineral density. The study was conducted by researchers at University of Tokyo; the study revealed that women who consumed green tea had higher bone mineral density as compared to those who did not. Hence, consumption of green tea may actually be able to help prevent Osteoporosis.
Green tea has earned much of its fame from its weight loss properties!
Green tea increases heat production of the body; this effect leads to the burning of calories in our body. However, this amount isn’t very high. Nonetheless, if you couple green tea with working out and healthy eating habits, you are definitely on the road to weight for your weight loss!
It is true! Green tea extracts are often used in cosmetics such as face washes. Even Green Tea Oil is extremely popular as a solution to skin problems, particularly acne! These extracts actually help fight acne and spots on the skin. A study conducted by Memorial Medical Center in Philippines showed that creams which contain green tea extract yielded better results in terms of smoother and acne free skin as compared to normal cream.
This is another green tea fact; drinking green tea can be very beneficial for cardiac health. This is because green tea reduces the level of bad cholesterol present in the body. A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed that individuals who drink green tea experienced a 16 percent reduced chance of cardiovascular disease.
This is one surprising green tea fact which was revealed via a study conducted by researchers at Japan’s Tohoku University. The study involved individuals aged above 70 - the results concluded that drinking green tea slashed the chances of cognitive impairment by up to 64 percent.
There may be some green tea myths, but the fact of the matter is that green tea is a miraculous drink that offers myriad health benefits!
